1930s divorce

[Sunpat]

I believe my great uncle, 'Jim' Pearce, divorced his first wife, Kathleen/Catherine nee Melrose in the 1930s (he remarried in 1948).
The couple emigrated from the UK in the 1920s and met and married in Canada but in 1930/31, while both were resident in the UK (they had returned for a holiday) they separated and he returned to Canada where he lived for a further 16 years.
I know that Kathleen returned from Canada to live in the Glasgow area and my great uncle, in July 1930, was living in Churchill, Oxfordshire, where his parents and brother still lived (his father died in March 1931).
I originally had thought that the divorce must have happened in Canada and have been unable to find any information online from Canadian sources but finding out that both were living in the UK in the early 1930s now leads me to consider a possible UK divorce.
Can anyone advise on how I might find information about their divorce with it's Canadian, Glasgow and Oxfordshire elements?
Sunpat

[SBSFamilyhistory]

https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/?source=home

I have checked for their divorce on here but have been unable to find aything.

Perhaps the divorce took place in Canada rather than here.

What does his status show on his marriage certifiacate for 1948.

Could his ex-wife have died by then?

Also sorry to suggest this but you have to consider that they may not have been legally divorced at all.

[Sunpat]

Thank you SBS for your help with the National Archives.
I had considered the possibility that they did not divorce - Kathleen died some 50 years later as Mrs Pearce so she did not remarry.
I will try to find out more details of his second marriage - when he had returned, permanently, to the UK.
Any advice is very welcome.
Sunpat

[SBSFamilyhistory]

Hi

Do you know what his proper name was.. I take it that he was James.

Where did he live and what was his wifes name?

Sue

[Peter Goodey]

For a divorce in England and Wales see here -
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/RdLeaflet.asp?sLeafletID=53

See in particular para 1: the definitive answer can be only obtained by contacting the Principal Registry of the Family Division.

Also para 3: there is a chance that case papers may have survived. They are not indexed by name in the Catalogue - you or someone would need to visit the National Archives to search.

[Sunpat]

Thank you SBS and Peter
My great uncle, although known by all the family as Jim, was Albert James - so this may be why the divorce information has not yet been found. His second wife's name was Anne/Annie Woodward and at the time of their marriage the couple lived in Oxfordshire.
Peter regarding "They are not indexed by name in the Catalogue - you or someone would need to visit the National Archives to search." I have no possibility of getting to the National Archives so I reckon that avenue is closed and the subject of the divorce may remain a mystery.
A relative tells me that the certificate for his second marriage states that he is divorced, formerly married to Kathleen Melrose sadly, though, no divorce papers are with the documents that my relative has but, I wonder, if the mention of his status as 'divorced' would mean that he would have shown proof of that at the time?
Sunpat

[Peter Goodey]

Peter regarding "They are not indexed by name in the Catalogue - you or someone would need to visit the National Archives to search." I have no possibility of getting to the National Archives so I reckon that avenue is closed and the subject of the divorce may remain a mystery.

I assumed that you would probably get someone to do it for you.

BUT note what I said -

1. If there was a divorce in England & Wales, the Principal Registry of the Family Division will know about it. That is definite.

2. If there was a divorce in England & Wales, there is a chance (somewhat less than 100%) that case papers survive at the National Archives.

[SBSFamilyhistory]

If she went to live in Scotland the divorce could have occured there, but it also less likely it could have occured in Canada.


Sue

[Sunpat]

I greatly appreciate your help, Peter.
I am surprised that information on the divorce is not with his other documents eg. his Will, second marriage and birth certificates - my relative searched through all she had belonging to him but, no joy.
With reference to the second marriage - can I assume that proof of his previous divorce was presented as a necessary legal requirement? I am told by a family member that when they remarried, also in the 1940s, that documentary proof of their previous divorce was required.
All your advice is very welcome and my next step must be the Principal Registry of the Family Division.

Sorry Sue, I just noticed you comments.
Catherine/Kathleen Melrose died in 1981(in Glasgow) still using the surname 'Pearce' and, curiously, her death certificate has her status as 'married'.
I do not know if she was aware that Albert James had married again as there had been no contact between them for many years - he had died in 1978 never having really known his daughter who herself died in 1998.
Sunpat